Magi's comments are spot on. Thank you; you expressed my thoughts that I could not put words to. (Guess that's why I teach math!) >From experiences in my district, I know that we are expected as teachers to not discuss controversial topics with students without specific parent approval. The most difficult part is identifying the controversial topics before you actually reach that point in your discussions. This is frustrating! I kept rewriting a paragraph illustrating real life examples where teachers I know have gotten suspended for responding to students questions about topics that people outside of school speak about all the time, that I am actually choosing not to include now because I want to make sure it doesn't come back to haunt me out of context (once on the Internet, forever on the Internet). Teachers are, with somewhat a good reason, guilty until proven innocent. Is this censorship of sorts? Yes. Is it life? Unfortunately, yes. Yves On Sun, 17 Dec 2006 18:38:24 -0500, "Magi D. Shepley" <magid@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> said: > Okay... I'm only going to explain this one time: I cannot and will not > present information to the students in my class if my principal or the > parents object. I need to keep that paycheck coming so I don't wind up > living in a house made of empty Fluxx boxes. > Personal opinion aside, whether or not I think some of the > administrators that I've worked with are loony tunes (and NOT from > playing Looney Labs games!), I have started to learn that stepping over > those lines in the sand just aren't worht it! > > > Magi > > Kate Jones wrote: > > Oh dear me. Are we now on the slippery slope of totalitarian political > > correctness and censorship? What else about our past history has to be > > denied because it might be controversial? What is controversial - that which > > does not fit the memes du jour? "Don't discuss" - keep them in permanent > > blinders? > > > > Freedom of thought, freedom of the mind are not possible without freedom of > > knowledge. Is our society entering a new era of tyranny over the mind of > > man? A new Dark Ages ruled by a few who empower themselves to dictate to the > > rest of us? > > > > Only knowledge will set you free. We cannot structure all of society, and > > set all of our standards, to the level of the emotionally dysfunctional, the > > cognitively inert, and the intellectually barren. You wouldn't cut off the > > feet of the able to make everyone equally wheelchair-bound (or would you?). > > > > Freedom - don't give it up, don't yield to the forces of darkness. > > > > Knowledge and Truth - don't hide it and censor it. In the age of political > > spin, > > have we so lost our compass that the truth is whatever we want it to be? > > Kids are born to want the truth. Give it to them. Discuss, explore, learn > > from the mistakes of the past. > > > > The only objectionable thing is to distort truth and reality, and to stand > > by and let it happen without protest. > > > > I hereby protest. > > > > War and Peace and Hippyism are all legitimate concepts to study, along with > > everything else the brilliant minds at Looney Labs have thought appropriate > > to include in their Fluxx product. > > > > Every concept is a valid subject for discussion, even at the simplest levels > > that a young child can understand and build on. You people have a priceless > > tool in this product for stimulating minds, far beyond its overtly > > entertaining uses. Doesn't any teacher in this group know about and use > > Socratic method? You might like to look it up - it's the coming thing to > > improve education. > > > > -- Kate Jones > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: edu-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx > > [mailto:edu-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Kimberly Terrill > > Sent: Saturday, December 16, 2006 11:40 AM > > To: Looney Labs Education Discussion List > > Subject: Re: [Edu] objectionable to the staff/parents? > > > > My kids asked me what hippies were. I just told them "People that love > > nature and like to use natural things instead of manmade and love being > > peaceful." > > I give my kids informatioon on a 'need to know basis' and I figured that is > > all they needed to know right now. but, that is easy for me to decide with > > my students, being homeschoolers. So my teaching and school examples don;t > > always work well with larger scale schooling. > > --Kimberly > > > > > > On 12/16/06, Yves Bouyssounouse <icehouse@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > > > > > > > > I would probably leave out the hippyism from the deck when playing > > Fluxx > > with my students; simply to avoid any controversy. In general, I > > have > > found that our community, while very tolerant of alternate > > lifestyles, > > prefers the "don't discuss in our schools" attitude > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Edu mailing list > > Edu@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx > > http://lists.looneylabs.com/mailman/listinfo/edu > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Edu mailing list > Edu@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx > http://lists.looneylabs.com/mailman/listinfo/edu